A shocking incident at a New York City immigration court has caused outrage after video footage showed an ICE agent pushing a woman to the ground in front of her children. The incident happened on September 25, 2025, at 26 Federal Plaza in Manhattan, where the woman’s husband had just been arrested by masked immigration officers.
The video, posted by conservative journalist Elaad Eliahu, showed the moment when around five ICE agents surrounded a Latino man who was holding onto his wife and two children. The agents put the man in what looked like a chokehold before pulling him away from his upset family and arresting him.
After her husband was taken away, the upset woman went up to one of the few unmasked ICE officers in the hallway and begged him in Spanish. The agent kept telling her “adios” before pushing her into a wall and then to the ground. As she fell, the agent stood over her and told nearby officers to remove her from the building while her children screamed.
Democratic officials speak out against the incident
New York City Comptroller Brad Lander, who saw what happened after the incident, said the woman had to be taken to the hospital. He said that she had not touched the agent and was not a threat before being violently pushed to the ground. “He was ripped out of her arms right in front of the family,” Lander said, talking about how the husband was arrested.
The hysterical wife of the detained alien follows around and confronts the ICE agent who repeatedly tells her “adios” then two hand pushes and shoves the woman to the ground in front of her children. Court security is brought to remove the woman pic.twitter.com/Mxv31DvMPC
— Elaad Eliahu (@elaadeliahu) September 25, 2025
US Representative Dan Goldman said the woman’s name was Monica and confirmed that she and her two young children came to his office for safety after the assault. Goldman called the incident “an egregious act of excessive force” and asked Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to take action against the agent involved.
The woman later talked to reporters and said that she and her family are from Ecuador. “Over there, they beat us there too. I didn’t think I’d come here to the United States and the same thing would happen to me,” she said. Reports say the couple and their children came to the United States last year.
The incident has made people more worried about ICE’s harsh tactics at immigration courts. Since May 2025, masked agents have been regularly waiting at 26 Federal Plaza and other immigration courthouses, arresting people after their normal court visits.The practice has raised concerns about how immigrants are being treated under the Trump administration’s policies. The Department of Homeland Security has not yet responded to requests for comment on the incident.
